Damsel in Destress
by PinkFairyArmadillo
Summary: "I am Death. I am Destruction and Fire and...What the fuck is the noise?" The one thing Demon King Bakugou Katsuki isn't expecting early on a Saturday morning is someone knocking on his door, unless said somebody has a death-wish. So when Crown Prince Midoriya Izuku comes knocking it's safe to say he's NOT ready and it looks like Katsuki might be stuck with his unwelcome visitor
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and welcome to the fic. This is just the first real short chapter for this fic. I hope you enjoy and any feedback you may have is appreciated.**

I am Death. I am Destruction and Fire and...What the fuck is the noise?

It's knocking. But who the hell would be knocking on the door of the most ferocious Demon King seen in centuries. Katsuki made no move to go to the door, one of the servants would soon scurry through and send whoever it was away, that was their job after all. He waited...and waited...and waited some more but still the constant irritation continued. He stood from his throne sharply and stormed down the carpeted steps.

"Do I have to do everything around here." He huffed to himself. He could see some of his soul bound servants cowering at the edge of the room hiding behind the great stone pillars. Yeah, like that would protect them. What was the point of tricking greedy humans into signing their souls away if they weren't going to fucking listen to orders.

"I'll deal with you fuckers later." Katsuki spun as he walked pointing to the shaking souls, a smug smirk stretched across his face when they all visibly flinched. His smile flipped to a furious scowl as he turned his attention back to the door and the person behind it, who **still** hadn't stopped their infuriating knocking.

"I'm fucking coming, stop with your shitty-ass knocking." He yelled as he stalked across the throne-room.

Still the knocking did not let up.

"I swear if that's you Shitty Hair," Katsuki swung the door open.

"Oh Thank God, I was starting to think you'd never answer. It's bad manners to keep your guests waiting you know." Katsuki was startled by the sight of the small greenette stood in his doorway. He had his arms folded and if Katsuki had looked closely he would have seen a delicate crown nestled in his vibrant curls.

'Guest?' He thought perplexed.

"You've clearly got the wrong place Shit Face, I don't have 'guests'. Now I suggest you clear off before my patience runs out." He started to move to slam the door in the intruders face but the small man pushed past him.

"Oh I assure you I am in exactly the right place. Now could you be a dear and fetch my luggage."


	2. Chapter 2

Katsuki flicked his head around to look back through the door. Sure enough there it was, the largest pile of stuff he'd ever seen. It towers above him almost blocking out the sun and Katsuki suddenly wonders how he hadn't noticed it straight away.

What did this shitty nerd even think he was trying to pull?

"That's not luggage, that's a fucking ship load! Where do you think it's even gonna go, huh!?" Katsuki questioned snarling.

"In my room of course. Come to think of it where is my room?"

"You're not fucking staying, I've told you. Get the fuck out of here." Midoriya ignored him.

"I should hope it's South Facing that would have the best view, but then again it needs to be big enough, and should I sacrifice comfort for style. It would be preferable if it's near the library. Do you even have a library. I think it should be...

The small Prince's words dissolved into a string of intelligible mutterings and Katsuki could feel himself shaking in anger. He let loose a barrage of explosions from his palms in an attempt to shock the man out of his musings.

When that didn't work he threw his hands behind him and launched forwards intent on knocking the nerd to the floor and screaming bloody murder. He flew towards his target, locked on and ready to strike. There was no chance he could miss.

Except...he did.

Or rather the prince sidestepped just before impact successfully avoiding being hit while Katsuki's momentum carried him far across the room, rolling over and over, tumbling into one of the grand marble pillars with a heavy thud. The original target of Bakugou's attack was still stood just inside the door, muttering away right where Katsuki had left him, if a little to the left.

Katsuki's scowl turned deadly as he lay, upside down with his back pressed against the cold stone. He was still for several seconds seething quietly, trying to resist the urge to instantly throttle his unwelcome visitor. He eventually pulled himself to his feet and positively stalked towards his

prey, who was still mumbling incoherently, and stopped just in front of him so that their toes were practically touching.

"Hey Shit Face," he yelled, eloquent as always.

Bakugou's snarl and feeling of his breath blowing over his cheeks jerked the green-eyed prince out of his stupor. He snapped his head around to look Katsuki straight in the eye as the blonde's shoulders heaved with heavy breaths.

"I do have a name you know."

Katsuki stood there slack jawed.

This...This absolute Dick. Katsuki has screamed and argued and launched himself across the room into a fucking marble pillar and this guy isn't even phased. Does he not know whose house he'd barged into? Could he not see the curved black horns on his head? He should be trembling at Katsuki's feet not offering sassy comebacks.

"Oh I am sorry, I suppose I never did introduce myself. Crown Prince Midoriya Izuku 'at your service'." Midoriya bent forward marginally in a mock bow bringing one arm in front of him whilst the other stretched behind him.

Bakugou felt a smug smile stretch across his face.

"Prince huh? We I guess that means you're below me," he chuckled darkly before bending over to imitate Izuku's position.

"Your Majesty," he drawled ", May I introduce myself. Demon King, Lord Explosion Murder at your service." His words were practically dripping with sarcasm as he continued to wallow in his own pride. His smirk faltered slightly when he looked over to Midoriya and noticed that his expression mirrored his own. The Prince even had the gall to giggle slightly as he schooled his features into mock innocence.

"Oh, well isn't that interesting," standing straight up and tapping his finger to his lips with over dramatic curiosity ", only I thought that a Lord was below a Prince."

Bakugou's face lit up in anger, and maybe slight embarrassment.

"SHUT IT," he screamed, throwing his hands to his sides and letting out a series of flashing explosions with some colourful language to match.

"You Fucking...and if I...your shitty feelings...or else..." Bakugou continued to spew out his vulgar word vomit, only half of which was understandable. Midoriya simply stood with his arms crossed tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, rolling his eyes as he waited for his host to stop his childish rant. Eventually Katsuki's words ground to a halt and he simply panted taking in great gulps of air.

"If you are quite done, I'm ready to go to my room," he flashed a warm smile in Bakugou's direction, still completely unaffected by his violent outbursts. He had seen much worst after all.

"Haaaah!? You deaf or somethin'. I keep tellin' you, you're **not** staying."

"Oh believe me I'd love to leave but I'm afraid we're stuck with each other until some pompous asshole comes to 'rescue me from your villainous clutches'" Midoriya's voice was weighed down with sarcasm and he help up his fingers in quotation marks as he said the last phrase.

"Stuck with each other?" Bakugou said under his breath thinking it over.

"That is what I said," he said pointedly ", you should have heard all about that from the messenger we sent."

"Messenger? I never got no Shitty messenger."

"Really? Are you sure? He is quite distinctive, blue hair, glasses, answers to the name Iida, oh and he uses speed magic." Bakugou thought back.

Huh, a guy like that did come 'round a few days ago rabbiting about some official business but Katsuki hadn't been in a listening mood that day. If he remembered correctly the fucker had ended up climbing through a window on the second floor, the persistent little shit, and he'd ended up throwing him into a cell to deal with later.

"Nope I haven't had anybody like that 'round here."

"In that case I apologise, still we don't have a lot of choice. My father said he'd declare war on you if you refused, which is a bit much in my opinion." Midoriya frowned. "Here's the deal, I'm essentially useless to him, since I have no magic, so he's sending me off to the middle of nowhere so I can live with you, a Demon with anger issues," Katsuki swiped at Izuku as he said this but he just ducked and continued regardless ", point proven. Anyway, now I'm here he's gonna send a bunch of knights after me until one of them succeeds in killing you and I return home their bride. He marries me off and gets rid of you, killing two birds with one stone. That's about it I guess"

"Who is your father anyway? He sounds like an asshat." At this Izuku bust a gut.

"Oh he is I assure you," he wiped hand over his eyes ", God I'd pay for you to say that to his face." He smirked at the image but soon his smile turned serious and the atmosphere in the room turned frozen.

"Ever heard of All For One," Izuku asked quietly. Katsuki felt a shudder travel down his spine at the name. He wasn't scared. No. He's never scared, but he's heard stories about that name that could make Lucifer run with his tail between his legs. Izuku seemed to pick up on the subtle change in Katsuki's demeanour and when he continued to speak he was so quiet Katsuki barely caught his words.

"He's my father."


	3. Chapter 3

Katsuki's knee jerk reaction was to back the fuck away. Anyone even vaguely associated with that bastard was bad news, and that was saying something since Bakugou is literally the King of Demons. Katsuki schooled his features into a menacing snarl and moved into a defensive stance.

"What game are you playing, waltzing in here acting like you own the place. I bet you're just waiting for a chance to sell me out to your fucking father." Katsuki's words were barbed and laced with venom as he practically spat at Izuku, all while carefully moving up the steps towards his throne to gain the higher ground.

"What kind of manic death magic are you packing that your dear old dad sends you here alone to face me the king of demons? Do you know how many people I had to fight to get this position, I'm not gonna be taken out but some punk ass kid who thinks their better than me." Katsuki's voice was goading now, he was trying to get Izuku to show some kind of hint of what he could do. The more he knew the better chance he would have when it came to beating his ass.

Izuku ran a hand over his face.

"I told you I have no magic."

"Ha, you really think I'd believe that, like the great All For One would send you here if you were useless. He knows better than that."

"Come on, why would I tell you he's my father if I was sent here to spy on you? Why would he send a fucking messenger to alert you of my presence? That makes absolutely no sense."

Katsuki thinks of the guy he has locked up in his dungeon. It would be a rather stupid move. But, then again, Midoriya Hisashi is just the sort of over confident asshole who would do something like that on purpose just to get under his enemy's skin.

"What are you hiding? Must be something special if you've got his favour." Katsuki looked Izuku up and down taking in the angry flush of his cheeks and the clenched fists shaking at his sides.

"You're just ignoring what I'm saying. He doesn't like me that's why I'm here, I'm expendable."

"I'm not falling for it so you can just go an' run back crying to your daddy with your tail between your legs."

Midoriya snapped.

He'd tried, he really had. He'd tried not to get angry, not to lash out. He tried not to let Katsuki's voice affect him. They're just words, they don't mean anything. But try as he might, he could still feel the anger boiling in his blood, could still see as red crept across his vision.

He leapt forward, flying towards Katsuki. Before Katsuki could even think, Izuku'd grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"So you want to know why I'm here huh?" His voice was close to a whisper but filled with power. Bakugou could feel the change, could see the darkening off Midoriya's face and it sent a shiver down his spine. He'd only every felt this sheer intimidation from one person before, and it left him helpless as Midoriya leaned in close. Bakugou could hear his heart thumping and his blood pumping rapidly to try and keep up with a rapid spike in adrenaline. If it had been anyone else in his position, he had no doubt that they would be shaking in their boots

"I'm here because I'm **_worthless_**."


	4. Chapter 4

Katsuki slid down the wall as Izuku released the collar of his shirt and spun around to walk back towards the door. Katsuki swiftly pushed himself from the floor and made for his throne, he could not be seen down not matter how intimidating the little magic-less freak was.

"I'll find a room myself." Izuku stated, leaving no room for argument. When he'd reached the door he grabbed a small bag, yanking it backwards and causing the towering pile to wobble precariously. He then turned and stalked towards the only other door in the room, one that led further into the castle. The tense faces of Katsuki's soulbound servants followed his movements as he wrenched open the heavy wooden door.

Katsuki sagged into his chair when the door finally fell shut, all of the tension bleeding from his stoic form.

'What the hell was that?' He thought as he buried his head into his hands, eyes wide and breathing shaky.

"Bro bro bro bro bro," Bakugou's head snapped up at the sound of Denki's annoying badgering.

"What." He rolled his eyes at the blondes ridiculous bouncing.

"Who was that? He was one scary dude, even you're shaking." Denki made sure to stay just out of his reach and Katsuki couldn't quite bring himself to move from the seat for fear that his still quivering legs wouldn't support him quite yet.

"Oh yeah, well what do you know shitty soulbound. Just do what I say and you get what you want, that's how the contract works." Bakugou snarled defensively. If he was watching closely he would have noticed how Kaminari flinched imperceptibly before his goofy smile reinstated itself.

"I know, I know, you don't have to get so tetchy about it." At this Bakugou really did leap to his feet, hands blazing, but Denki was already running away cackling.

"I'm not tetchy you fucking dumbass!"

—:—:—:—:—

Izuku was walking down a seemingly endless corridor with his bag slung over his shoulder. His face was still set in a scowl, eyes glaring burning daggers at the floor.

'The absolute nerve. Who does he think he is, saying all those things about someone he hardly knows.'

Izuku snorted.

'Oh right, he's the Demon King, insults are kind off his thing.'

Midoriya crouched on his toes and rubbed his free hand down his face. Seriously what was he doing, he's just flat out attacked the guy he's going to be depending on for food and shelter. Maybe his dad was right, he's just a useless Deku, always fucking things up.

"Oh hey, you alright down there." Izuku looked up tiredly from his position on the floor. A man was looking down at him smiling wide with sharp, sharp teeth.

Izuku fell back onto the floor in surprise. Who the heck was this, he thought there wasn't anyone else in the castle,

"Oh sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you, here let me help you up." The redhead reached out a hand looking generally concerned about Izuku. Midoriya cautiously took his hand and used it to help pull himself from the floor. His eyes flicked over the man in front of him, trying to gauge any threats while he still had a tight grip on his hand.

"Um, could you maybe let go of my hand, I'm pretty tough but you've got a kinda strong grip."

Midoriya dropped his hand like it burned and his face heated up with a scarlet flush, looking completely embarrassed for a second before schooling his features and positioning himself in front of the stranger.

"So, who are you?" Izuku questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing, Bakubro never lets people into the castle unless they're here to make a deal."

"Bakub...oh you mean Bakugou," Midoriya realised in slight surprise ", he lets you call him that?"

"Nah, but that's never stopped me." The redhead grinned.

"Are you...Are you his friend?" Izuku asked, eyes wide in shock that anyone could possibly tolerate the explosive temper of one Lord Explosion Murder for any prolonged time.

"I'd like to say so," answered the stranger, puffing his chest out proudly before his expression turned quizzical. "Hey, stop avoiding my question. Who are you?"

"Oh right, I'm Izuku, Izuku Midoriya."

"And I'm Eijirou Kirishima, so are you here to make a deal?"

"A deal?" Midoriya tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, figured that must be it. Bakubro doesn't let any humans into the castle unless he has something to gain. He even slams the door in my face sometimes."

"Nah, I guess I just sort of barged in." Izuku shrugged. He wasn't really sure why he was telling all this to a stranger but the bubbly redhead just had this sort of aura that made Midoriya inexplicably relaxed around him.

"In that case, respect to you my man. Anyone who can barge into this castle must be real manly. I usually come in through the window so as to avoid his growling. Truly manly." Eijirou held his fist to his heart and looked of into the middle distance with a far-off look in his eyes while Midoriya frowned.

'The window? Any widows that could be opened were all on the third floor, how'd he get up there?'

Midoriya waved his hand in front of Kirishima's face but he didn't even flinch and continued to stare unblinkingly. Izuku shivered, it was kind of creepy. He figures Eijirou wouldn't really notice if he just left so he bent down to scoop up his bag and began to inch around the edge of the corridor, moving carefully so as not to disturb the human statue.

Izuku had barely moved two steps when Kirishima had finally snapped out of his daze. His head flicked around confused before he spotted Midoriya wandering away and jogged after him.

"Where'd you off to anyway?" He asked.

"I'm trying to find a bedroom I can stay in."

"You're staying!?" Kirishima exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah." Izuku replied slightly dejectedly.

"Does Bakubro know?"

Izuku snorted.

"He doesn't have much choice, neither of us do. He was warned, no matter how much he throws his toys out of the pram he's stuck with me."

"He was warned? Wait your that Prince dude that the funny messenger guy was talking about." Kirishima pointed at him excitedly.

"Yep, that'll be me. Speaking of Iida, do you know where he is?" Midoriya asked with a hint of worry for his friend.

"Baku threw him in the dungeon at first but I snuck him out and left him in one of the spare rooms. He talks a lot, it's a miracle that he hasn't been found yet."

"And where might that room be?"

"It's on the third floor. I'll take you there."

"Lead the way," Midoriya sighed, gesturing down the corridor.

—:—:—:—:—

"He did what?!" Came a screech from next to Kaminari.

"Shhhhh Mina, you don't want Baku to hear us do you," whispered Denki trying to cover Ashido's mouth.

"Don't you shush me, how could I possibly quiet when you've just told me that some random Prince dude just totally stormed in and kicked the ass of our resident angry child!" Mina squealed.

"Come on, you've really got to be quiet and I wouldn't really say he got his ass kicked." Denki protested.

"That's totally what your saying, our Baku has finally met his match." Mina punched the air in her excitement and then continued. "This is gonna be some next level Beauty and the Beast shit."

"Beauty and the Beast?! Minaaaaaaa, this isn't one of your matchmaking games. It's Baku we're talking about." Ashido looked very offended by this.

"Are you saying he's not lovable!?" She questioned slightly hysterically leaning away from Kaminari with her hand in the centre of her chest.

"Nooooo, that's not it but you weren't there, you didn't feel the tension. Whoever Baku ends up with it won't be this guy." Mina's demeanour shifted instantly as she looped her arm around Kaminari's neck and looked at him like she was about to tell him the secrets of the universe.

"Ah my dear Denki, you have much to learn. What you have failed to realise my dear boy is that that...was sexual tension." Then she burst out laughing.

Kaminari scowled petulantly.

"You are awful."

"But ya love me anyway."

—:—:—:—:—

'Huh, so that's the window he came in through'

Midoriya and Kirishima had finally found their way up to third floor and they had just come to a window that was wide open, allowing the bitter autumnal breeze to pour into the corridor. Izuku moves closer to the window and leaned out over the edge to pull the great glass window shut.

Looking down, the ground seemed like it was far, far away and Midoriya was once again wondering how the heck Eijirou had managed the climb. He supposed that he could have scaled the wall but the smooth stone surface didn't seem to have much purchase so it seemed almost impossible. Kirishima must have seen his confusion because his questions were soon answered.

"I'm a dragon by the way. That's how I got to the window and that's why I'm the only one who sticks around, I'm immune to Baku's fire."

Midoriya's eyes widened slightly but he couldn't really bring himself to be too shocked that the man in front of him was somehow a great fire breathing lizard. It answered a lot of his questioned and now that he knew, he could see all the signs. Unnaturally sharp teeth, unnaturally coloured hair, his slightly blockish build, the two mildly pronounced bumps on his back where his wings would no doubt sprout from.

"Huh," was his only reply. Kirishima looked incredibly awkward with his reaction and for the rest of their journey they were in silence.

"Well, uh, here we are. The glasses dude, Iida you said, should be in here. The rest of the rooms are all down that way," he gestured to a passageway that branched off to their right. "I guess I'd better be going or something, uh, bye."

Izuku gave Kirishima a small wave before he turned back to the door and, bag still in hand, gave it a hearty push so that it swung open.

The room itself was rather small and unassuming, not the kind of room that you would have expected from the castle's harsh exterior but the interior wasn't what caught Midoriya's attention, it was its occupant.

Sat at a small desk in the far corner of the room was a tall man with bluish hair, which had grown to be slightly longer and more unkempt than when Midoriya had last seen him, and glasses. Iida. At the sound of the door opening, he had spun around and leapt out of his chair into a defensive stance but at the sight of Izuku's unruly green hair he had relaxed considerable.

"Sire," he said clearly while he pulled himself up straight and bowed down deeply.

"I must apologise most thoroughly for any inconvenience I must have caused by failing in my mission." Midoriya waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry, I dealt with it. After meeting the king I can hardly say it was your fault that he didn't listen."

"Still, I should apologise, there must be something I can do."

"If you really want to do something, you can stop apologising. In any case I'm glad you are alright. The king gave the impression that he had thrown you into a dungeon to rot."

"Ah, he had but that funny fellow with the red hair moved me here. Come to think of it I must thank him for his kindness." Midoriya's thoughts moved to Kirishima, he probably should assure him that his reaction was not out of spite. The red headed dragon had been nothing but kind.

"We can deal with that tomorrow. For now, I really need to rest."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Midoriya had woken up early to scout out the rest of the castle while he hoped no one else was awake. Unfortunately he had no such luck. He had just settled down in one of the humongous squishy bean bags the castle's extensive library held when he heard the voice.

"Hey you!" Izuku heard someone yell down from above, he lifted his head wondering who they might be calling to.

"You there with the curly broccoli hair!" The voice yelled again.

_'Curly broc- Oh. They mean me don't they.'_

Midoriya groaned and slid the book he had just picked up swiftly into place on the shelf, then turned and scanned the room quickly for the intruder.

"I'm up here!" Midoriya's head instantly flicked upwards the many walkways that crisscrossed above him to allow access to the upper shelves. Sure enough there they were, waving frantically down at him. From this far off Midoriya could just make out the short dress-like clothes the figure was wearing and was that pink skin?!

The figure suddenly spun and began to run down the walkway towards the ladders. They grabbed the sides of the ladder and slid down smoothly without their feet ever touching a rung. They ran over and by this point Midoriya thought that it might possibly be acceptable to assume they were a she but you can never be sure with magical folk.

"You know I thought I might find you here, Denki said that you looked like you might be kind of a nerd." She was jumping around excitedly with a strong grip on one of Izuku's hand.

"Uhhhhh...Do I know you?" He asked confused.

"Nope" the girl finally stopped bouncing but her manic grin remained glued in place. Midoriya carefully extracted his hand from her iron grip.

"Am I going to know you?" He asked again.

"Oh yes of course. I'm Ashido but you can call me Mina, since you're gonna live here and all."

"Ah...ok well I'm Midoriya." Izuku supplied but Ashido wasn't listening anymore. She was, instead, moving slowly around him in a circle eyes scanning him as she twisted and turned.

"Uh..." Midoriya made a confused noise in the back of his throat and tried to spin to follow Mina as she circled him.

Ashido's brows pulled together and she frowned for a millisecond before straightening her back and settling into a sort of relaxed stance with her index finger hovering thoughtfully on her top lip.

"Huh," she mused. "I don't see it."

"Don't see... what?" Izuku questioned.

"I dunno, Denki made out like you were some big macho dude but you're a bit plain I guess." Mina stated rather bluntly. Midoriya spluttered.

"Plain?!" He exclaimed.

She grunted in approval, eyes still scanning him as if searching for some hidden feature or button that would bring out Izuku's '_Inner Macho Dude_'.

Midoriya was quite frankly lost for words. His face cycled through expressions at full speed as he tried to process the situation or maybe just think. His mouth finally settled into a tight frown and he scowled defiantly at the still thoughtful Ashido.

"I am sorry to disappoint," he spat, Mina simply waved her hand dismissively.

"Ah. Don't worry Midori, there ain't nothing you can do. Its Denki's fault for getting scared too easy." Ashido joked grinning.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my research." Izuku moved around the pink skinned girl before pulling a book from the shelf and flicking through the pages. Before long he felt a presence by his left his shoulder.

"What you lookin' for." Ashido asked quizzically. Midoriya groaned.

"Don't worry, I'm handling it."

"Come on I'm sure I could help."

"Well I'm sure I can manage."

"I wanna help." Mina insisted trying to reach over Izuku's shoulder to grab the book. Midoriya snapped.

"WELL I DON'T WANT IT." He practically screamed, ripping the book back from Ashido's grip.

Mina pouted before spinning on her heel and starting to stalk away, only to pause a few metres away.

"I didn't mean to offend you, it was just a joke and you never know, when you wanna know about a demon's soulbound...it might help to ask one of them." She said grumpily.

Midoriya's eyes flicked to the book he had just reopened. _'An Idiot's Guide to Soul Contracts_'. He spun around to face the sight of Mina's retreating back.

"Hey wait! Wait please." He scrambled forward, nearly tripping over his feet in his haste to catch up.

"Please-_hah_-I woul-_hah_-would like to-_hah_-ask you a few-_hah_-few questions." Midoriya panted once he had reached Mina's side. He had grasped her arm to try and prevent her from running of and was bent over, chest heaving, just to her left.

Mina's demeanour switched instantly and her previous grin swiftly reinstated itself on her face. It was almost like flicking a switch, the speed at which she moved from sulking to practically blinding Izuku with a megawatt smile.

"Really, I'd love to help out." She exclaimed taking up Midoriya's hand once again and shaking it up and down so rapidly Izuku was worried she might pull it off.

"What do you want to know?"


	6. Chapter 6

When Mina had offered to answer Midoriya's questions, she had really underestimated the his curiosity. From the first second he had been furiously bombarding her with question and he didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. It had been four hours. Four hours! Did this man not need to breath. He was hardly giving Ashido any time to answer as he rattled through the interview. Another thing giving her whiplash was Izuku's complete one-eighty degree turn when it comes to his attitude. When Mina had first met him she'd come to the decision that he was rather rude and frankly not particularly good company but now, talking about something he clearly loved, Ashido could see the childish joy in his movements. She groaned and laid her head onto the table in defeat. This guy didn't make any sense.

"I promise this is the last one." That's what you said last time.

"I just really need to ask." Go on then, hit me up you damn broccoli.

"Why did you choose to become a soulbound?" Izuku's voice was quiet and tentative and his hands were tightly gripping his shirt clearly showing how nervous he was asking the most potentially risky of all of his questions.

Mina's head snapped to attention and all of her weariness bled out of her in one as she fixed Midoriya with a suspicious stare.

"That's a mighty personal question you've got there Midori," Ashido pointed out defensively.

Izuku bobbed hurriedly and inclined his head in a sort of half bow.

"I know, I know and I'm really sorry and you really don't have to answer it's just that every one has always said that people only make soul contracts because they're greedy or selfish but that can't be the case for you because you offered to help me and...and..." Midoriya tapered off.

Mina was quiet for a time and she could see Izuku getting gradually more and more tense as the silence stretched out. She sighed heavily lay bad heavily in her spinning chair.

"I had a brother, but he...he got ill." Her features were pulled tight in a pained expression as she recalled long buried memories.

"Please" She begged, ugly tears streaming down her face as she knelt on the floor at the feet of the Demon King.

"I've tried everything, but there's no one left. Please."

The Demon King was sat upon his throne, looking down on her with a vaguely bored expression fixed solidly onto his face. His head was rested against one of his hands and the other gripped the arm of the throne of the chair.

"You say he'll die?" He asked uninterested.

All at once he was on his feet and stalking towards where Mina was still pooled on the floor. Ashido scrambled back in fear, feet getting caught on the long hem of her skirt. The Demon King caught up quickly and his hand grabbed her chin tilting it upwards sharply.

Mina's eyes were open wide and her chest rose and fell in quick succession as she waited trembling for the Demon King to make his next move.

"Then surely you know the price." He snarled.

Ashido took a deep steadying breath.

"I knew that when I came here and I'm fully prepared."

"You'll never be able to return, you'll be restrained to the grounds of the castle." The Demon King warned.

"I've said my goodbyes" Mina insisted and Katsuki must have seen the determined light in her eyes because he soon dropped her chin and straightened his back, taking a step back.

"So be it, I just hope this 'brother' is worth it." He stated turning swiftly so that his heavy cape fanned out dramatically behind him.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou. Oh God thank you." Ashido sagged in relief.

"That was about two-hundred years ago and I've been here ever since. Katsuki was telling the truth when he said that I wouldn't be able to leave. I never say any of my family, they'll all be long gone by now." Mina sighed as she finished her story.

"Oh...wow," Midoriya gulped heavily. "Your amazing giving up your life to save another's."

Izuku was truly in awe, he couldn't imagine giving his life to save his family. But then again, the only family he had was All For One, who could hardly even be considered his father, and he'd never met his mother. Still, it was truly amazing what the women in front of him had sacrificed.

"200 years, are you immortal now?" Midoriya asked curiously. Mina's slightly dimmed eyes focused onto him. She looked really drained and Izuku winced in apology.

"Uh...no, not really...we're only 'round as long as Katsuki is."

Midoriya winced again, she really did sound tired. It was probably past time to leave her alone.

"Thank you Mina, this was really helpful but ah- I'll just- see myself out now. Goodbye."


	7. Chapter 7

Katsuki had, though he would deny it, spent the entire day pointedly avoiding all signs of life in case one of them ended up being Izuku. That did mean, of course, spending most of his time locked in his room ignoring Kirishima's attempts to draw him into the outside world.

Where Katsuki's plan really fell flat, was dinner. After sulking in his room for a good nine hours, it wasn't his bladder that defeated him (no, he had an en suite bathroom), it wasn't his need to do something that forced him out of his room, end the end, what ruined his ploy was his stomach and its apparent need to announce his hunger to the world.

"Grrrrrrrr!" His stomach grumbled.

"Hey Bakubro, you hungry?" He heard Kirishima ask from the other side of the door.

Katsuki refused to answer but clearly his stomach had other ideas.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" It was even louder this time.

"I know your in there bro, I can here your stomach grumblin'."

Damn it, couldn't this guy just take a hint and give up.

"I'm not coming out Shitty hair so you might as well fucking leave." Katsuki gritted out.

"Ah," Eijirou groaned. "Why not?"

"I...I just don't want to." Katsuki insisted.

"Come on bro, the chef made your favourite super douper spicy curry with extra hot sauce," Kirishima bargained.

Katsuki's stomach took this moment to let off its loudest grumble yet.

Hell, it sounded so good. He hadn't eaten at all that day and the new chef really did know how to make a spicy curry.

"Bring it up to me then, I'll eat here." He demanded.

"No," Katsuki couldn't see it but Kirishima had crossed his arms decisively.

Katsuki sputtered.

"I'm sorry!? Who's the king here?" He exclaimed incredulously.

"You are."

"So go get me my curry shitface."

"No, if you want food you have to come out of your room. Your acting like a spoilt brat and you forget forget that I consider myself your friend and therefore I worry about you. You are coming downstairs if you ever want to eat that curry again."

Katsuki only properly relaxed when the consistent tap of Kirishima's footsteps faded away. He sank backwards into his plush pillows and sighed irritably.

Damn it, why is everyone suddenly growing some fucking balls to challenge him, it's so damn frustrating.

His stomach grumbled again and this time he was grumbling along with it.

'I really want that bloody curry," he thought angrily. 'But I don't want to risk running into him,' he shivered, remembering how it felt when Izuku slammed his against the wall ', just yet.'

He ran his hand over his face and groaned again, sitting up decidedly. There was nothing for it, he'd just have to sneak down, grab his curry and leave, there was next to no chance that he would run into Izuku. He was probably off terrifying talking to some other Demon King or something, there was nothing to worry about, this should be easy leash. I mean, how bad could it be?

—

Very bad. Very very very bad.

The moment Katsuki crept through the door to the dining room, he anted to leave. For there, at the head of the table, tucking into what Katsuki assumed must be a milder version of his curry, was Izuku and just like that his entire day of sulking in his room was almost for nothing.

Except, as Katsuki looked closer, he began to see that he still had one last chance. Izuku was still thoroughly engrossed in his meal and must not have heard Katsuki enter. He slowly and silently backed out, treading extremely carefully so as not to hit a creaky floorboard.

Bakugou was only steps away from leaving the room completely when he backed into something solid.

'What the hell?' He though to himself. 'I know there isn't a wall here.'

Katsuki was still a quiet for several seconds before he heard the voice.

"What's going on Baku?" Kirishima questioned.

Katsuki leapt away from him, landing, by chance, on the creakiest boards in the room, just as Izuku's head flicked up.

Bakugou met Midoriya's eyes across the room and he watched as an amused smirk stretched across his face. Katsuki sneered at him before turning to Kirishima.

"I'm here for dinner, that's what's going on. So have someone bring it to me."

"Fine," Eijirou pouted. "But you have to talk to me later."

Katsuki waved him off and Kirishima spun on his heel to exit the room, leaving Katsuki alone with Izuku.

"Are you going to sit?"asked Izuku gesturing to the seat beside him, eyes sparkling with mirth.

Katsuki sneered at him and instead took the seat at the opposite end of the table, as far as possible from Izuku's seat.

"Come on, I don't bite," grinned Midoriya.

Katsuki's face was, by this point, set into the darkest scowl he could muster but this did not seem to deter the smiling prince any moe, in fact it seemed he found Katsuki's annoyance amusing rather than intimidating.

"So," Izuku began conversationally, taking a small bite from his fork and swallowing. "Where have you been all day? I was wandering around but I didn't see you," he continued, scooping up another spoon of his curry.

"Yes well I have been real fucking busy," busy avoiding you.

"Oh, with what?" Izuku pressed.

"Just official king stuff. Look it's all fucking complicated, you wouldn't understand."

"Try me, perhaps I can learn," Izuku dabbed his mouth with his napkin before pushing his chair backwards with an ear splitting screech. He then promptly stood before making his way down the length of the table and taking the seat closest to Katsuki, ignoring the slight look of panic that flickered across his face. Izuku leant his elbows on the table and threaded his fingers together, looking intently at Katsuki.

"It's not like I have much else to do, there must be something you can teach me."

Katsuki was saved from replying by the great wooden doors at the end of the hall swinging open to announce the arrival of his food.

In the presence of others, Izuku moved so that he wasn't leant quite so close to Katsuki and it was all Bakugou could do to not sigh.

Izuku truly was an unknown and Katsuki hated anything he couldn't predict. As violent and spontaneous as most of his actions may have seemed, in battle most of his movements relied heavily on his analysis of the opponent's fighting style and are actually quite precise. In general his analysis was a quick process and assured Bakugou a swift victory but with Izuku, not matter how hard he tried, he came up blank. The worst part was that Izuku had already proved himself to have the quicker reactions of the two which meant that Katsuki's only hope was to stay one step ahead.

"Your dinner sire," Katsuki was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of Mina's voice and the quiet tap that signalled a plate landing in front of him.

Mina was ginning some at Katsuki's clear discomfort. She looked between him and Izuku.

"Ah Mina, you look way less tired." Exclaimed Midoriya smiling sweetly.

"Thanks Mido, I had a good long nap after you left me."

"Nap?!" Katsuki snarled. "What the hell do you think I'm paying you for." Mina raised her eyebrows.

"You don't pay me."

"Oh yes, that's fucking right. So please, continue." Bakugou replied, gesturing towards the pair sarcastically.

"Will do," grinned Midoriya, turning his attention back to Mina.

"Thank-you for answering my questions. After meeting Kacchan I thought every one in this castle were going to be dicks but you proved me wrong."

"Ahhh, you're too sweet."

'Honestly the nerve of some people,' Katsuki thought to himself. Here they were, completely ignoring him as though he wasn't even there. 'After meeting Kacchan'?! I'll have you know I have a grade A personality...wait.

"The hell is a Kacchan?!" He bellowed frightening several of the nearby soulbound.

"Oh right, that," Midoriya began to explain. "I used to have this funny little happy pomeranian that always looked like it was scowling. The resemblance is uncanny and honestly it kinda fits with your name. I think it's cute." Izuku continued casually as if he hadn't just likened a Demon King to a small fluffy dog.

"Cute!?" Katsuki sputtered, eyed wide in disbelief and shock.

"Yes, that is what I said," Midoriya replied, swirling his drink with his straw.

"You think that I, Lord explosi- King Explosion Murder suit a cutesy little name like Kacchan?!"

"Well yes, don't you agree Mina." Katsuki turned to Mina, fixing her with a murderous glare, daring her to even try saying something.

Mina was, in the end, unfazed by this and was actually struggling quite hard to keep herself from falling to the floor laughing.

"I...I do, oh sorry I just," She took a deep steadying breath, desperately trying to maintain a straight face. "I do think it suits you...sire."

It was about here that she finally lost it, letting out a sharp bark of laughter. Her hand immediately flew to her mouth to prevent any further noises.

"I think...that you are now excused Mina." Katsuki's voice was low and dangerous, like the calm before the storm.

Mina gladly took this opportunity to make her escape and, with a clumsy curtsy, she sprinted towards the door, barely making it out before she burst out laughing.

The rest of the soulbound also began to scurry for the door at this point, seeing Mina's sudden exit and feeling the intense anger rolling of Bakugou in waves.

Midoriya seemed to be the only one not at all phased by the sudden tension in the room. He even had the audacity to snatch up one of the spare spoons from the table and swoop in to grab a spoonful of Katsuki's curry.

But the joke was on him, of course, as he started spluttering, wheezing and desperately fanning himself to try and quell the burning in his mouth.

This made Katsuki grin. It was a murderous grin, full of malice and anger and spite, but it was a grin all the same.

"What's wrong little De-ku, can't handle a little bit of heat?" He sneered.

"Of course you can't, because that's what you are isn't it. De-fenceless Little Izu-ku, hasn't got any powers so his daddy's got to marry him off.

Katsuki had gone too far there, he could tell from Izuku's demeanour. Gone was the cocky prince who casually insulted him without batting an eyelash, Katsuki was back in the throne room pinned to the wall and helpless. But he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You want to say that again."

"Defenceless Izuku, can't even fight his own battles."

"Any time, any place."

The were both stood up now and facing each other and were facing each other. Their faces were inches apart, so close they could feel each others' breath. They were tense, ready to jump into action at any moment.

"How 'bout now," Katsuki challenged.

"Challenge accepted."


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as the words had left Izuku's mouth Katsuki was vaulting over the table, palms sparking. At the last second, Izuku spun out of the way and Katsuki's hand was instead charring the back of the chair, bowling it over.

Katsuki was on his feet in seconds, ready to fly at Izuku again but he had disappeared. Katsuki turned slowly. His eyes were scanning the room. Searching. In the corner of his eye he could he a flicker of green. He spun around.

Izuku leapt from behind him slamming his knee into Katsuki's back. Katsuki hit the floor and rolled out of the way just in time to dodge Izuku's full weight. He sprung to his feet, hands crackling dangerously as he sent a barrage of explosions that followed Izuku as he sprinted across the room.

Izuku ducked under the volley of blasts and in seconds he was up behind Katsuki, wrapping his arm around his neck.

"It's gonna take more than that to beat me," He snarled into Katsuki's ear pulling his chokehold tighter.

"Really," Katsuki bit out, arms wrestling to keep Izuku's grip from tightening further. "Then you won't mind if I do this."

Katsuki's hand flew to Izuku's face and let off a blinding explosion. Low in heat, high in brightness. Izuku's grip immediately faltered as he stumbled backwards hands flying up to his face.

Katsuki took Izuku's temporary blindness to catch his breath. Gulping in great breaths of air as Izuku frantically scrubbed and tried to blink away the dizzying whiteness that had swallowed his vision.

It wasn't long before Katsuki was back on his feet and knocking Izuku to the ground. He pressed his forearm to Izuku's chest.

"Guess it's my turn then," he smirked.

"Huh, not even kings are below knocking someone while they're down." Izuku wheezed out staring, unseeing at Katsuki.

Katsuki scowled as Izuku struggled beneath him.

"But I guess this means I win."

"Guess again." Izuku's knee shot up and Katsuki's face instantly scrunched up in pain as he fell to the side, hands trying to cover his crotch.

Izuku scrambled backwards as soon as he felt the weight move off of him. He shuffled away until his back came up against the wall. As Katsuki writhed around in pain on the floor Izuku felt along the wall desperately trying to get his bearings and furiously trying to blink away the fog. Eventually he got to the far corner of the room, he pushed his back to the wall and listened vigilantly for any sign of movement.

When Katsuki could finally stand, his glare was like death itself. Even though Izuku couldn't see his face, he could feel the anger radiating off of him and hear the sound of his enraged footfalls stalking towards him.

Izuku closed his eyes to focus on pinpointing Katsuki's approach without the distraction of thousands of tiny lights. If he could just get Katsuki to say something.

"For all your bark, I really thought the you'd have a bit more of a bite." He goaded.

Silence.

"I hardly even felt your explosion, it tickled really. Have you ever thought of a career change? I think you'd make a really good clown."

Still silence.

"I mean really, how weak must the previous Demon King have been to have lost to you."

The footsteps stopped...and then Katsuki roared. Izuku's head snapped to his right.

"My mother was not weak," he snarled, bracing himself as he built up to his biggest explosion yet.

It ripped from his hand and hit Izuku square in the chest. He was propelled into the air until he was crashing into the table, braking it solidly in two. Izuku dragged himself to his feet and ran at Katsuki delivering a harsh kick to his shins.

It seemed that the floodgates had opened. As the two exchanged blows, a barrage of insults and expletives were sent hurtling towards him. This coupled with subtle changes in the movement of the air helped Izuku predict and deflect Katsuki's attacks.

A particularly devastating kick to his side sent Katsuki flying into the mantle, destroying countless priceless artefacts.

The two crashed around the room leaving a trail of demolition behind them. They charged at each other recklessly and uncaring until nothing was left intact.

Their clothes were in shreds and they were both covered in blood and angry bruises. All of the bones in Izuku's right hand had been shattered and the skin sliced when he had gone to punch Katsuki's face but instead drove his fist through the wall. Blood was dripping down Katsuki's forehead from a gash just below his forehead and it was collecting in his left eye socket.

Izuku was still blinded and his arm was heavily injured but he fought like a madman, leaving no room for counter attack and slowly driving Katsuki backwards.

Katsuki went for a right hook at the exact second Izuku threw a swift upper cut to his jaw and they both stumbled backwards, panting and exhausted.

Then it happened.

Katsuki dropped to his knees and his body folded up like a deckchair. Soon he was on his back paralysed by exhaustion, unable to move other than to breath.

It wasn't long before Izuku followed, falling to his knees. But somehow, through sheer force of will, he managed to stay there.

There was a silence in the destroyed hall as the dust settled.

The Katsuki started to laugh.

It began quiet and breathy as he tried to stop himself from wheezing, but soon he was helpless to prevent the great bouts of manic laughter that were racking his body.

"Why...are you...laughing? You lost." Izuku breathed.

"You're useless. Useless, magic-less and blind...but you beat me," and slowly, ever so slowly, wincing ever second or two, he pulled himself into a (roughly) sitting position and held out his hand.

"Bakugou Katsuki, nice to finally meet you," and slowly, a smile stretched across his face, a real smile. It must have been contagious because Izuku soon felt a smile creep onto his lips. He caught Katsuki's hand in his own.

"Midoriya Izuku, the pleasure is all mine."


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey Bakubro, I'm thinking I might just head home since you-"

When Kirishima entered the room, the last thing he had expected to find was Bakugou and Midoriya lying on the floor surrounded by the charred remains of the decor, laughing maniacally.

"Oh my god are you ok?" He ran forward, leaping over the piles of destruction. In a moment of absolute panic, his wings sprung from his back and, in two powerful flaps, he was at Katsuki's side.

They were both bloodied and beaten to the point that Eijirou couldn't tell who'd come out of the fight on top.

He'd fallen to his knees at Katsuki's side and was frantically trying to get his attention. He waved his hand over Katsuki's face and his eyes were clearly unfocused as he continued to laugh drunkenly. Midoriya was much the same but when Kirishima had pried his eyes open gently, they had a distinctly milky quality which couldn't be good.

Oh god, they could have broken bones or worse and who knows how long they've been lying here for. Are Midoriya's eyes ok? He can't be blind right? But what if he is, what'll they tell his father when the suitors arrive? Is Bakugou's head ok? That's...a lot of blood. Ok breathe, just breathe and then go and get help.

Kirishima was up and out of the door in seconds with the help of his wings. Straight out of the door he found himself barrelling into Ashido, knocking them both to the floor.

"Sorry Mina, I've really gotta go." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him back with surprising strength.

"Woah woah woah. What's wrong?" She asked, clearly worried.

"Bakugou and Midoriya have a had a fight, a big fight. They're probably definitely concussed and I need to get recovery girl." He explained, desperate to get going.

"Oh...wow ok. You go and I'll see what I can do for them." With that Mina dashed into the room while Eijirou started the search for recovery girl.

—

Katsuki and Izuku were really incredibly lucky that recovery girl was already in a near by village visiting some of her old friends because honestly, Mina had no clue what she was doing. All of her medical knowledge was from this one romance novel she'd read where one of the main characters had been stabbed in the stomach.

"Uh-so I-uh-press this." Mina muttered to herself, leaning over Katsuki to press down onto on of his larger wounds. Katsuki groaned and rolled over, falling silent.

"Is that a no?! But they definitely put some pressure on the wound, what else? What else?" She looked around herself in a desperate panic. Then, in a moment of brilliance (or at least she thought so), she remembered what they had done in the book.

Mina reached down to the edge of her skirt and pulling with all of her might she tore into the thick fabric. She then went to work wrapping the strip tightly around Katsuki's middle in the hope of alleviating some of the bleeding. Katsuki groaned again but Mina continued, tearing into the hem of her dress again and this time wrapping the strip around his head.

Those seemed to be the biggest of the injuries for Katsuki so she shuffled over to Izuku. A third strip was ripped from her dress and goddammit why does she wear them so short, any more and it would be more of a top than a dress. This strip went straight around his thigh, pulled tight and tied in a hasty knot. She left his hand well alone because it looked somewhat misshapen and she wasn't messing with that.

After she'd tied several more of these strips, Mina was left with very little clothes and very few ideas on what else she could do but wait and hope that Eijirou got back soon.

—

It took Kirishima less than an hour to find where Recovery Girl was staying in a nearby village. By horse it could have taken him half a day round trip but as a dragon, he could go far faster.

When he'd landed the villagers had run, terrified. All except for Recovery Girl and a funny little old man in a yellow cape that had ran at him yelling gibberish and waving his cane.

The old man had been ignored as Kirishima shifted, dodging at the last second and went careering towards Recovery Girl, skidding to a halt centimetres in front of her.

"Woah there sonny, you'll give somebody a heart attack if you go around diving at unsuspecting villagers. Your lucky me and Sorahiko over there have seen a few of you in our time." Recovery Girl tapped Kirishima on the head with the plunger end of her rather needle like cane.

"Sorry-uh-ma'am, I'm in a rush. I need you to come with me, there's been a fight." He panted.

"Let me guess, it's that hotheaded friend of yours up the mountain." Kirishima nodded. "Well then, you'd betters shift back and take me up there."

Scales instantly sprung from his skin and his wings burst from his back again and stretched out to brace his weight against the change. Kirishima lent down onto his front to allow recovery girl to climb on. She gave him a condescending look.

"You expect me to climb up there at my age." Kirishima flushed and reached down to pick her up and gently place her on his back.

As soon as Recovery Girl was settled, Kirishima launched into the air to head straight back to the castle.


	10. Chapter 10

When Midoriya came to he could feel something pressing down on his eyelids and wrapping around his head. That must be why he couldn't open his eyes. The surface beneath him felt soft and sort of squidgy. A bed then. He tried to sit up but the sudden pounding in his head and the sharp pain in his leg forced him horizontal.

"I would hit you on the head but you've gotten yourself quite a concussion there young man and I don't think that it would be particularly helpful for your recovery." Izuku heard a voice...and he recognised it.

"Re-Recovery Girl?!" He exclaimed.

"Your correct there sonny boy, I'm surprised you could tell from just my voice." Izuku flushed.

"Y-Yeah, I was really ill when I was younger and my father brought you in to heal me." He explained, it felt really weird to talk to someone he couldn't see.

"You must be a Midoriya then, honestly I'd expect such a sickly child to grow up to have a few more self preservation instincts."

"Ah...sorry." He apologised.

"Yes well I hope I won't have to be called in again. In any case, you've managed to get yourself an almighty concussion and when it comes to your eyes, you're lucky that dragon friend of yours got me so quickly or you could have been facing permanent blindness. I'll be healing the wound on your leg as soon as you've built up some stamina and most if not all of your superficial wounds have been dealt with."

"Thank you." Midoriya let out a sigh of relief at least there was nothing permanent.

"However." Ah, he spoke too soon. "Your hand was the most affected, most of the major bones in your fingers and several in the rest of your hand and wrist were shattered when you tried to drive your fist through a sold stone wall. I've done my best with the less damaged bones and I will continue to try and patch it together over the next few weeks but you have to be ready to accept some heavy scaring and perhaps loss of movement."

"Oh...it's that bad huh." He turned to where he thought Recovery Girl was standing and gave her a wobbly smile. "Thank you for trying."

—

Meanwhile, in the room next to Izuku's, Katsuki had woken up alone and unable to move thanks to several straps that crossed him body to prevent him sitting or standing up. Bakugou desperately struggled against them but he was still weak and the aching in his head was making it difficult to think too hard about anything.

The door swung open.

"Ah your awake," it was Kirishima. Katsuki groaned.

"Shitty hair."

"Oh come on bro, I practically saved you the least you could do is remember my name."

"In what way did you save me." Katsuki tried to sneer threateningly but it wasn't quite as effective when he was tied down unable to move.

"I fetched Recovery Girl before you and Midoriya bled to death." Eijirou announced proudly.

"I'm sure I would've been fine." Katsuki scowled. "And what's up with the fucking ropes, I'm not a criminal."

"Recovery Girl said I needed to make sure you stayed lying down so you didn't agitate the wound in your stomach and I figured you wouldn't listen if I just asked you." Kirishima explained.

"Yeah right, you kinky little shit." Eijirou spluttered.

"I'm not...Why the heck would I...Oh my god...It's not like...ahhhhhh your such an asshole."

"I'll have you know I have a grade A personality." Katsuki smirked up at Kirishima, who rolled his eyes pouted grumpily.

"What...What actually happened in there?" Kirishima questioned slightly tentatively.

"We fought." Eijirou groaned.

"Well I know that, how else would the room be so destr-"

"And I lost." Katsuki's tone was deadly serious and Eijirou's jaw dropped you.

"You..." Kirishima was speechless except... "Wait does that mean Midoriya's the Demon King now!?"

"No, he never challenged me, it wasn't an official match." Katsuki's gaze was sort of distant as he shook his head, like he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he'd lost...Midoriya Izuku had beaten him.

"Oh, well that's good then. I guess." Eijirou tried awkwardly.

"It was close, don't get me wrong. I bet that asshole has worse injuries than me."

"Well you'd be right there, Recovery Girl isn't sure his hand will ever be completely right." Katsuki's mind flashed back to Izuku's hand busting into the wall as he dodged and he remembered the sight of blood dripping onto the floor.

"Serves him right for coming at me."

"Seriously bro, you knew he was at a disadvantage maybe you should have gone for some lighter blows."

"Shitty hair, your forgetting I lost. Even fighting at full strength I couldn't beat him, if I'd let up at all he wouldn't be the one with irreversible injuries."

"Oh...right." Honestly having Bakugou be so blunt about losing was really throwing Kirishima off balance. He'd entered the room expecting anger and possibly denial but instead Bakugou had been unnervingly calm and almost defeated.

"I'm sure it was a pretty close call though." Eijirou smiled awkwardly.

"Sure." Katsuki grunted, struggling a bit in his restraints. "Fucking untie me. I won't run off promise."

"How do I know you won't." Kirishima crossed his arms. "Recovery Girl really would kill me if you did."

Katsuki grinned.

"Oh come on, I don't break promises." Bakugou gave Kirishima his most trustworthy look.

"Well I guess, if you promise." Kirishima was too trusting for his own good. He knelt right by Katsuki's hospital bed and started fiddling with the knots he'd put in place. The knots were messy and quite random and as a result it took a good five minutes of working with his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth before the ropes finally fell to the ground.

The only warning he got was a sudden pressure on his shoulders as Bakugou used him to push himself up into a standing position. He wobbled, off balance for a few seconds and when he turned Bakugou had already hobbled to the door.

"Hey come on bro, you promised."

"Sure I never break a promise but next time you should check if my fingers are crossed." And with that Katsuki was off, staggering down the hall and into the next room along. Kirishima leapt to his feet and went skidding around the corner after him.

—

Recovery Girl had explained his entire condition to him and Izuku was honestly starting to regret getting so worked up over Katsuki's words. He had to stop lashing out and letting himself get dragged into fights. Looking at his hand he remembered what his mother always said, one day it would get him seriously injured.

It was in that second that the door slammed open and one Bakugou Katsuki half staggered half fell through the opening, pulling Izuku from his thoughts and drawing the attention of a very angry Recovery Girl.

"What on earth do you think your doing out of bed mister." Admonished Recovery Girl, brandishing her cane at Katsuki. From behind Bakugou, Kirishima then came barrelling into the room.

"I'm so sorry Recovery Girl, I shouldn't have believed him." Eijirou made a lunge to restrain Katsuki But Bakugou sort of fell haphazardly out of his reach.

"Where's the damn nerd." He demanded.

"He's resting, like you should be. So I suggest you make your way back to your own room."

"Hah, I gottsa bones to pick wiff im so move ol'ady." Katsuki slurred, clearly his injuries were starting to catch up with him. Kirishima went again to grab him but Bakugou thrashed and wriggled out of his grasp.

"I'm not leeeaving unstil I've talked to da damn erd." Katsuki positioned himself into what was probably meant to be a fighting stance and it became quite clear that trying to force him to comply would probably do more harm than good.

"You have ten minutes and then I want you back in bed, no complaints. And if you're going to talk, you have to be sat down. Keep in mind that you are both recovering, I don't want any funny business."

"Go on then, get lost." Katsuki snarls as he practically collapses into a chair near by.

"I don't think so." Bakugou scowls but Recovery Girl maintains her resolve and Katsuki is honestly feeling to tired to properly protest.

"Fine." He grunts And turns his attention to Izuku.

"Hey loser, lissten up." He waved his hands in front of Izuku's face, only then really clocking the bandage wrapped tightly around Izuku's head. "Hey granny w'as up with 'im."

"You did quite a number on his eyes with one of your explosions, he'll recover but for now they need to remain protected." Recovery Girl explained briefly and Katsuki just waved him off.

"I'm blind not deaf y'know, I can hear you." Izuku spoke up.

"Right, lets...get down to business." Katsuki's eyes seemed that loose all focus in that second. "To defeat...the Huns." Izuku giggled.

"Was that a Mulan reference?" He asked chuckling.

"Don' matta. My point is, your fulla bullshit."

"I'm sorry what?!" Even though it wasn't possible to tell, you could just imagine Izuku's wide green eyes growing impossibly wider as his eyebrows drew together.

"Your full of bull."

"Yes I heard you the first time."

"Worthless, useless, helpless. Tha's all a loada crap." Izuku's mouth was gaping.

"Magicless? Who the fuck cares if your that strong. I mean screw your dad, screw 'im. What the fuck does he know. You just defeated the Demon King, if that ain't a reason to be proud I dunno what is, if that ain't a reason to be respected I dunno what is. You gotta man up and face it cause your real powerful and you hit real hard so be happy fucker."

Midoriya was truly lost for words, as were the rest of the people in the room. Katsuki's words were jumbled and parts of his speech made very little sense but the meaning was there. Even in his concussed state, even after Izuku had beaten him, Katsuki was sat by him preaching about being proud of himself and facing his feelings. Gah, what a hypocrite. Izuku couldn't help but laugh.

It was a solid laugh, it came from deep inside his chest and echoed from his mouth in great rumbling waves. Katsuki scowled.

"S'not funny you fucker, I'm serious."

"I know...thank you. I think that's got to be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." This time it was Katsuki's turn to smile, muscles that were long out of use stretching and contracting to pull his face into a hazy smile. Izuku couldn't see the smile but he felt the tension drain from the air. Happy tears started to leak from the corners of his eyes only to soak into the bandages, unseen.

"Right, I'd say that's enough excitement."

"Come on granny, we were 'avin a moment ofer 'ere." Bakugou complained.

"Yes, well with your concussion let's just hope you remember this 'moment' in the morning."

"Yeah, Yeah. I'm fine." Bakugou stood to prove his point and promptly collapsed forwards, unconscious.


	11. Chapter 11

When Katsuki came to, he was once again tied down tightly to his hospital bed. What had changed was the pounding in his head which seemed to have completely settled, even the stinging in his side had quietened to only a whisper of pain when he struggled against his restraints.

"Shitty Hair!" He bellowed. The door almost instantly swung open to reveal Kirishima.

"Hey, you're finally awake. Recovery Girl wasn't sure how long it would be considering how hard you hit the ground." Kirishima hit Bakugou with a blinding smile that showcased ever one of his sharp teeth.

"Why the fuck am I tied down again?!"

"Well I can hardly trust you not to run off after last time."

"Fuck you, I feel fine." Katsuki scowled.

"Doesn't mean it wouldn't do you some good to rest for a bit."

"Fuck you, rest is for the weak."

"And the injured." Eijirou pointed out.

"Fuck you."

"You really need to work on your vocabulary bro." Kirishima moved to perch on the end of Katsuki's bed and Katsuki had to wiggle madly to shift himself into a position that meant he could see the redhead.

"Fuck you."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. What I wanna know is what all that stuff in Midoriya's room was?" Kirishima could see Bakugou's eyebrows furrow.

"What fucking shit?"

"Y'know, the whole 'you're full off bullshit' speech." Katsuki snorted.

"That never happened." Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"No, it really did. I was there! You went on this massive rambling speech about Midoriya being 'worth shit'. It was really manly." Kirishima explained excitedly waving his hands about a bit erratically to illustrate his point.

"Pfft, yeah right. As if I would-"

"You can even ask Recovery Girl okay, I wouldn't lie about something like this." Kirishima interrupted. Katsuki's scowl deepened but he didn't continue to argue.

"How long Are you gonna keep me locked up here anyway?" Bakugou asked to change the subject and break the awkward silence that had started to descend.

"I'm not actually sure," Kirishima admitted slightly bashfully. "It could be fine now for all I know, Recovery Girl never really specified."

"Well the. Go get the old hag to get me out of here." Katsuki growled, wriggling in his restraints again and glaring at Kirishima in a way that definitely spelled death if he didn't move right in that second.

"Okay okay, I'm going." Kirishima hell his hands up in defeat and slowly backed out of the room.

It had been barely ten minutes by the time Kirishima returned but it felt like hours to Katsuki. He didn't have anything to do but stare at the ceiling and think.

For practically the first time in his life he's lost a fight and to someone without magic. If Izuku had been aware of the proper rules of challenging a Demon King, he would have been dethroned. Either way, Katsuki didn't think he deserved the title at the moment and unless he could find a way to beat Izuku at his best, he never would.

Katsuki was snapped from his brooding when the door swung open once again and the faint tapping of Recovery Girl's cane filled the room, swiftly followed by Kirishima's voice hurriedly yapping about all that he had noticed since Katsuki had awoken.

"I mean he seems pretty fine and he was scowling like he normally does but he couldn't really remember what happened yesterday and that could be bad, is that bad? It probably is ri-" Kirishima was cut off by a gentle whack on the back of his head causing him to suddenly jerk forward.

"Right sonny boy, I can't see any reason not to let you out. Your slight memory loss is not quite unusual considering your condition at the time and it shouldn't be much to worry about."

"Let me up then you old hag." Katsuki bit out, thrashing again as if that was going to speed up his release.

"Before I do, I feel obligated to remind you that I don't expect something like this to when again. You and the Prince caused rather a lot of people rather a lot of stress and came very close to causing yourselves quite devastating permanent damage. If I am called on again, I'll have half a mind to just let you heal naturally." Recovery Girl's voice was stern and her face was serious but Katsuki's scowl only deepened and he grunted in a way that could hardly be seen as agreement.

Recovery Girl delivered one of her signature whacks, this time to Katsuki's stomach, causing him to try and fold inwards only to be stopped by his restraints. From there all it took was a pointed look from Recovery Girl for Katsuki to choke out a reply.

"Fine, fine you goddamn hag. I'll try not to fight someone in my dining room for a while. Now fucking let me out."

Recovery Girl hummed and gestured to Kirishima, who immediately crouched to start fiddling with the knots on the rope. As soon as the ropes went slack Katsuki swung his legs around to place his feet on the floor. He rolled his shoulders to try to loosen out the muscles there and turned to Kirishima.

"I'm fucking hungry. I think it's time for dinner take two. Go tell De-Izuku or whatever."


	12. Chapter 12

Katsuki had been sat at the table in the temporary dining room for at least half an hour waiting for Izuku. With each passing minute his scowl deepened and his brow furrowed to the point that by the time Izuku's fluffy green hair poked around the corner his entire face was scrunched into a ridiculous pout. Midoriya supposed it was probably supposed to look threatening but from his point of view it was far to reminiscent of the portraits of that 'grumpy cat' that one of his friends used to show him to be anything other than funny and he struggled to stifle a giggle in the crook of his left elbow. Instantly Katsuki's eyes zeroed in on him.

"You gonna stand there all day or are you coming in." Bakugou snarled, defensive as ever, lip curling as he gestured to the seat next to his.

Izuku instantly scurried out from behind the door and Katsuki had to suppress a slight wince of guilt at the sight of his right hand wrapped tightly in bandages and bound to his chest. Izuku didn't seem to notice and strode towards him, awkwardly pulling out a chair with his good hand and falling heavily into the seat.

"So...?" Midoriya began, slouching in his chair. His eyes were trailing around the room, looking every which way except towards Katsuki, and his lips were pursed.

"I-" Katsuki began, voice gruff and threatening. He cleared his throat. "I mean, I wanted to apologise...I guess."

"You...what?"

"Don't make me repeat myself Shitty Nerd."

"No I heard you but I'm the one who should be apologising. I mean I barged straight into your house and sure you insulted me," Katsuki had to suppress another wince. "And you were trying to goad me to fight. But...But I didn't have to react and it's your hou-castle and I mean I destroyed your dining room."

"We both fucking destroyed my dining room, but it wouldn't be destroyed if I didn't insist on being such a jack-ass ok. I thought you were a weak-ass overconfident nerd, but your not, your fucking insanely good a fighting. If you'd issued an official challenge, this would be your castle right now."

Izuku looked at him wide eyed and gazed around the room.

"Seriously!?" He asked.

"That's how it works." Katsuki replied, dejected. "Honestly, I won't even try to stop you if you try to take the damn thing from me."

Suddenly Izuku was folding in on himself, dragging his gaze from the room around him.

"What no...I'd never...it's yours." They fell into a sort of uncomfortable silence after that, only broken when one of the more skittish of Katsuki's soulbound scurried through the door with a tray of food, spewing apologies. Their hands shook as they set out plates of steaming hot food all while Katsuki glared daggers from his eyes.

"It's really no wonder they're all scared of you Kacchan, with all the glaring you do."

"Haah!?" The soulbound jumped two feet into the air with shock at his voice, very nearly spilling the water they were pouring right into Izuku's lap. They apologised profusely, backing swiftly out of the door with the silver tray in one hand and the empty jug of water in the other.

"I'm only saying it couldn't hurt for you to smile every once in a while, or even just not frown. Honestly anything would probably be better than your normal glare."

"This is just my face fucker." Katsuki exclaimed in indignation. Still, over the next few minutes, Izuku watched his brow furrows and his mouth wobble, the corners switching between twisting skyward and dipping towards the ground. Finally, Katsuki's mouth settled into a sort of painful half smile that was honestly more terrifying than any glare he could have sent Izuku's way and yet he couldn't help but smile, then burst out laughing at the sheer hilarity of the expression.

"What's so funny blockhead!"

"Have you-never-smiled-before-or something." Izuku gasped out between great bouts of laughter. Katsuki could practically see stars twinkling mirthfully in his eyes as he followed the creases at their corners. Oh fuck that was kind of cute.

"Not-Not everyone's stupid enough to laugh at everything." He spluttered out in retort, but that only made Izuku pout.

"Yeah well you shouldn't make such stupid faces then I won't be able to laugh at them." He playfully stuck out his tongue and then it was Katsuki's turn to pout. He grabbed his fork and stabbed it violently into his food, fishing out a great chunk of chicken from the curry and shoving it into his mouth. As he chewed, his expression seemed to go from angry to vaguely annoyed and he began to glare down at his bowl.

"What'd the curry do to you?" Izuku asked, playfully cocking his head slightly to the side.

"This shit's bloody plain. Not even half the spice there should be." Bakugou turned up his lip, preparing to yell out the a soulbound and give them a good berating. Then suddenly Midoriya surged forward, spoon in hand and with only a quick "lemme try" before his spoon was dipping into Bakugou's curry, scooping it straight into his waiting mouth. Bakugou watched as Midoriya fell back into his seat and followed the heated red flush that was creeping up his cheeks, he smirked.

"What is it too much for you?" Katsuki asked condescendingly.

"Nope," Izuku managed to choke out through the burning in his mouth. "S'delicious", and then he was desperately fanning his mouth and downing great gulps of water.

"Ha! You can't even handle a tiny bit of spice."

"A tiny bit...that curry probably contains...more...spice than I've ever eaten...in my life." Izuku forced out between gasps of air and mouthfuls of water. "You must be some kind of monster."

Katsuki leaned right over the table. As he moved in he could see Izuku's eyes widen in confusion and he smirked, not stopping until his mouth was right by Izuku's ear.

"Some kind of demon you mean."

And the he was on his feet, cackling with his bowl of curry in one hand. Katsuki stalked to the door. Honestly, that cook better be glad that Izuku had put him into a better mood because it might have just about saved them.

%%%%%


	13. Chapter 13

Two days passed before Recovery Girl deemed it safe to remove Izuku's cast and bandaging. Soon after that she left but not before she had given the both of them a swift tongue lashing, warning them to 'never do that again' or 'by Jove I'll leave you to heal naturally, that'll teach you'.

Now that he had free movement in both arms, Izuku felt he was positively brimming with energy that he just had to use somehow.

As luck would have it, the next morning as he came out of his room he barrelled straight into Kirishima's side, knocking them both the floor. As soon as Izuku saw who he was now straddling his face lit up in a frankly rather frightening smile that sent shivers down Eijirou's spine.

"Hey Kirishima, you're a dragon."

"Uh, yup."

"So that means you're strong right?"

"I guess so."

"Fight me."

"Whaaa?!" Kirishima's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Fight me."

"I-uh-don't think that's a very good idea." The confusion quickly shifted

"Oh come on please." Midoriya pleaded, pouting slightly as he leaned towards Kirshima's face, staring into his eyes.

"We really shouldn't." Kirishima looked anywhere but at Izuku's face

"Fightmefightmefightmefightme." Izuku began to bounce.

Kirishima sighed. He could already tell that he was fighting a lost battle. Midoriya's eyes were shadowed but even then Kirishima could see the telltale glint of a predators gaze.

"At least not here."

Izuku's face clouded with confusion and his head tilted to the side, not unlike a curious puppy.

"The training grounds."

Realisation dawned on Izuku and Kirishima could almost see the faint outline of a lightbulb blinking into life above his head as cogs clicked into place in his brain.

"Oh, that makes sense." Izuku replied. He then sat back onto Kirishima's legs and looked at him as though he was expecting him to leap up despite the weight on his legs.

"You-uh-might want to get off me now." Eijirou asked, blushing slightly.

Izuku's cheeks soon joined in with their own scarlet flush of embarrassment as he stuttered out an apology and practically launched himself of Kirishima.

Kirishima followed on, standing slowly and then turning to lead Izuku down one of the halls towards the exit that led to the training grounds.

—:—:—:—:—

"Fucking hell!" Katsuki yelled as he stormed down the hallways searching for Izuku. He'd checked every single corridor and most of the rooms, interrogating many of the staff who quivered in his presence, but none of them seemed to have seen the green haired man. Midoriya was either constantly moving around the castle without Katsuki noticing or he just wasn't in the castle. But where else could he have gone? He had said that he was required to stay with Katsuki until someone 'rescued' him, not that he would need any help with getting out of he wanted to.

Katsuki froze.

What if that was what had happened?

What if some idiot knight had snuck in during the knight and swept Izuku away without him noticing?

Sure Izuku's belonging were still in his room. But if your trying to make a stealthy exit would you really take anything but the essentials.

Katsuki thought back to the day Izuku had arrived and the mountain of luggage that had been piled up behind him. He definetely would have noticed if somebody had tried to sneak that monstrosity out of the castle.

Katsuki crouched, cape pooling behind him, and put his hand to his mounts in thought.

What if he really was gone?

I mean, what if?

Katsuki grabbed his hair and violently shook his head.

So what. Why should he care if the nerd had left? That's just one less nuisance around the castle.

—:—:—:—:—

Mina was also searching for someone.

She was in fact looking for Bakugou to ask him why half of the staff were lying unconscious around the castle, from fear she guessed.

When she found him he was, oddly, sort of half curled up at the edge of the corridor with his limbs all twisted in random directions, grumbling to himself.

"Great," she thought to herself. "He's finally lost it"

Cautiously, Mina crept over to the mumbling pile of demon king, bent over and ever so gently prodded it with the handle of a feather duster.

Immediately, Katsuki's head jerked up and his eyes focussed on Mina's face.

"Where's Kirishima." And then without waiting for her to reply. "I'm gonna fight him."

Mina looked at him, slightly concerned, and gestured vaguely in a random direction.

"You'll have to make a queue, he's already sparring with Midoriya in the training grounds."

Katsuki's eyes widened slightly and then his pupils narrowed into slits. He untangled his limbs slowly an began to stand, straightening up to his full height with murder in his eyes.

"Those utter bastards" he growled and shut of down the corridor leaving a vaguely bemused Mina in his wake.


	14. Chapter 14

It was a little under five minutes into their spar when Izuku first got Kirishima pinned and all of a sudden Eijirou knew why Katsuki had lost to him.

"Again." Izuku demanded, standing up instantly and brushing the dust off of his clothes. "And don't hold back this time."

Ok. Well that's something.

"I really shouldn't, I could break something." Kirishima explained. Not wanting to face Katsuki's wrath. Instantly he regretted his decision when faced with Izuku's soul baring glare.

"Oh come on, there's literally nothing to break around here, which must mean your worried about breaking me." Izuku paused, looking thoughtful, before continuing. "Or, your worried that Katsuki'll through a fit if you do somehow manage to scratch something." Kirishima nodded hurriedly and grinned. His grin soon faltered however as Midoriya gave his arms a quick stretch before dropping back into a fighting stance. "Don't worry, I'll handle Mr Demon King if he Through a tantrum."

Kirishima sighed. Really they were both as bad as each other, he honestly had to wonder if the castle would survive the two of them before someone turned up to 'save' Midoriya. Oh well, if Midoriya really wants to volunteer himself as tribute he could hardly complain, besides it had been a long time since he's really been able to stretch his muscles.

"Ok, ok. You win, but no permanent injuries. Recovery girl scares me far more than anyone else ever will." With that precaution out of the way, Eijirou allowed his grin to reinstate itself onto his face and slowly lifted some of the pressure suppressing his power.

Instantly deep crimson scales spread across his skin, breaking through his thin tunic and forming an almost impenetrable shield. He rushed at Izuku.

-:-:-:-:-

Katsuki felt the great shock waves of power far before he could see the two idiots fighting.

When he reached the wide open entrance between the inside of the castle and the edge of the training grounds, a large group of soulbound instantly flocked to him from where they had been hiding behind various solid structures, sheltered from the wind.

"Where are they?" He demanded of the nearest soulbound to him, a slip of a girl who'd made a deal for money.

"Oh-um-field twenty three we think...sir...no one has been able to get close enough to verify that though.

Katsuki merely grunted and pushed through the sea of soulbound, striding straight out into the open.

His cape danced in the great shockwaves that tried to push him back into shelter but Katsuki himself was mainly unaffected, certainly at this great distance. It wasn't until around fifty metres from the pair's fight that Katsuki had to put up an arm to protect his eyes from all of the dust that was flying at his in waves, only really making headway in the breaks between attacks.

At twenty metres, Kirishima caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye which caused a slit second delay, allowing Midoriya to land a solid blow against his jaw that made even Katsuki wince.

Kirishima stumbled backwards and tripped over a conveniently (or inconveniently) placed rock, sending him tumbling to the ground with the wonderful gift of a mouthful of dirt.

In seconds, Midoriya was straddling Kirishima's back and his hand was around Kirishima's neck, sending a weird spike of jealously through Katsuki's heart that he immediately shoved aside to be worried about later.

Kirishima let out a grunt of defeat, which meant that Midoriya began to stand, and sent a vague and mildly frantic gesture in Katsuki's direction. Izuku's eyes immediately flicked over and focused on Katsuki. His mouth stretched into a smile that made Katsuki's heart squeeze.

"Kacchan!" Izuku exclaimed running over to Katsuki. "Wanna spar?"

"Oh sure asshole, bet you'd love that." Katsuki sneered.

"Well that is why I asked." Izuku countered, eyes sparkling.

"Oh shut up, I'll get to you later," Katsuki waved his hand dismissively and moved pushed Izuku to the side. Izuku stumbled slightly and watched Katuski over his shoulder, confused.

Katsuki swaggered over to where Kirishima still lay on the ground, face a mask of calm. He put one foot on each side of Kirshima's torso and grabbed a handful of his tattered shirt in his fist. Then, he sucked in a deep breath. Kirishima closed his eyes and turned away the best he could, knowing what came next.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING ASSHOLE!" Katsuki bellowed, making Kirishima's hair dance in the force of his breath. Kirishima at least had the courage to look sheepish.

"Uhhh, sparring?" He asked hopefully.

"Really? I hadn't noticed you were having a little scuffle out here." Katsuki taunted, words drenched in sarcasm.

"Oh"

"Do you have any fucking idea how long I've been looking for you" and Izuku, mainly Izuku.

Kirishima's face lit up.

"You were looking for me?" He asked excitedly. Katsuki groaned, releasing his hold on Kirishima and putting a hand to his face in frustration.

"I wasn't," he tried to insist.

"You totally were," Kirishima persisted, with no regard to his safety and well-being, sounding entirely too smug. Out of the corner of his eye Katsuki could see Izuku, also smiling.

"I fucking wasn't, you bastard." Bakugou could feel a headache coming on.

"Then why are you all the way out here." Izuku asked, wiggling his way into the conversation. Katsuki sputtered.

"The-The staff were complaining about the noise, it was fucking annoying."

"Huh," Midoriya said, putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"What." Katsuki growled.

"Well, I just don't really see you as the kind of guy to care about what your staff think." Izuku probed.

"Yeah, since when do you care?" Kirishima questioned and even his voice sounded like it was grinning. Katsuki scowled.

"Since now." He gritted out, lifting his hands threateningly. Kirishima took only one step back and allowed his scales to creep back across his skin as a precaution.

Midoriya laughed.

He laughed and Katsuki could hear angels begin to sing. Izuku's face was bright, even with the smears of dirt from the fight, and the corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement. His hair stuck out around his head and the sun shon from behind him, lighting up the green tips like a halo. That was all it took for Katsuki's anger to dissipate.

"Just-just be a-a little quieter next time." He rushed out, spinning on his heel and storming away, throwing a hand to his face to cover his crimson flush.

'What the fuck was that?!"


	15. Chapter 15

Katsuki came barrelling straight off of training grounds and charged straight into Mina.

"Fetch recovery girl" He panted, gripping her shoulders so hard that it was just on the edge of painful.

"What, why? Is one of them hurt?" Mina questioned, throwing her chin in the direction that she assumed Kirishima and Midoriya were in as a way of gesturing without the use of her hands.

"What? No you idiot. It's me, isn't that obvious." Katsuki snarled, trying to look exasperated put failing rather spectacularly thanks to the smile still trying to tug at his lips.

"Did you get caught up in the fighting?" Mina asked another question, still only looking vaguely worried.

"Oh for goodness sake, look at me. I'm sweating up a goddamn river, my heart feels like it's trying to win a race with a goddamn cheetah and my face is so fucking hot it feels like it might explode. What else is that other than some goddamn fucking illness?"

Throughout his rant, Katsuki had been gradually leaning in closer and closer and Mina had been desperately trying to wiggle her way out of his arms. When her desperate bid for freedom failed, she instead just leaned back as far as possible out of the way for the duration of Katsuki's verbal tirade. It was only once he was completely finished that Bakugou finally saw fit to release Mina, taking a step back and continue to mutter under his breath. Mina watched on, mulling over his words and slowly her mouth stretched into a smile and she began to giggle.

Katsuki's head slowly lifted up and he began to glare daggers at Mina as she continued to chuckle.

"What the hell's so funny, hah?!" Scowling and moving back towards Ashido grabbing her by the front of her dress and shaking her back and forth.

"Your ridiculous." She snickered.

"Hah?!" Bakugou exclaimed, lip curling.

"When did your...symptoms appear?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

"How does that have anything to do with an-"

"Oh my god, answer the goddamn question." Mina sighed exasperated. Katsuki looked mildly perturbed.

"I don't know, I was fucking out on the field and I dunno, the fucking Prince was annoying and he laughed and-"

"Ah, I see" Ashido cut Bakugou off again, earning herself a fierce glare. "Sounds like you were embarrassed...or, more likely in this situation." she put one finger into the air "you got a crush." She practically sang the last few words.

Katsuki flushed bright red.

"Wha-What the hell?!"

Is that what it was?

Did he lo-no it definetely wasn't that.

Did he like Izuku?

Katsuki pondered this idea, beginning to pace back and forth in front of Ashido. He thought back to their fight and his defeat, remembering the way that it made his blood rush to finally be able to use full power on someone with no restrictions. He thought back to the first meal they shared in the aftermath of the fight and remembered the way that Izuku's eyes had watered as he tried to smile through the fiery spices of his curry. He thought back to the training grounds mere moment ago and remembered Izuku's laugh. Suddenly his heart was racing again and heat was burning across his cheeks.

Oh God.

He liked Izuku.


	16. Chapter 16

"What the heck am I gonna do?" Katsuki yelled slightly frantically.

"What do you mean?" Ashido questioned back in confusion.

"I mean what the heck do you do if you like someone? Do I tell him?" Bakugou inquired.

"No no no no no, not yet at least. First you gotta seduce him." Mina stated, watching as Katsuki's face lit up in a fierce blush.

"Hah?!" He screeched, jumping backwards.

"No seriously, hear me out", Mina held her hand up to silence Katsuki's inevitable protests before continuing. "I'm gonna be blunt, there isn't much chance of Izuku returning your feelings at the moment."

Katsuki began to growl, Mina ignored him.

"I mean think about it, what does he know about you?" Mina began to count on her fingers. "Your the Demon King, you swear like a sailor, the first thing you did was insult him and then attack him and actually thinking about it so was the second thing."

Katsuki thought back, everything Mina was saying was true and thinking back to their fight he really had said some shitty things. He'd made some almost instantaneous judgments based on stereotypes and his preconceptions of what Izuku should have been and in the end it backfired onto him. Karma hit him hard and fast.

"So what can I do about it" Katsuki asked. Mina was shocked at how calm he seemed, of course it could have all been a front, but as far as Mina could tell, he seemed deadly serious.

"Ok, first I feel the need to emphasise were not gonna trick him, we're just gonna show him everything he hasn't seen yet, the best bits and stuff. If he still doesn't love ya, or even like ya, after this then that's it. We believe in free will in this house."

Katsuki nodded in understanding but Mina could tell that her words were making him unexpectedly nervous. It seemed that the threat of rejection could affect even the great Demon King.

"Come on then," Mina gestured for Katsuki to follow. "If I'm gonna make a plan, I'm gonna need a big ass black board and about a tonne of chalk."

Ashido swished past Katsuki and began to make her way further into the castle. Trusting that the blonde would follow her, she strode through the labyrinth of halls with the determination of a woman on a mission, which she was. After taking a handful more turns, Mina came to the door that was her final destination, a small study that she figured most have laid empty for a good number of Years before she had claimed it as her refuge when she first arrived.

On the far wall of this particular room hung a large blackboard that would be just perfect for Mina's planning and she was pretty sure that there was a box somewhere in one of the cupboards.

As Bakugou entered the room he had to pause to look around in vague confusion. He couldn't remember ever having seen this room before. If he had then he was sure he'd have remembered, the wallpaper in the study was particularly distinctive with gilded gold leaves curling in every corner. It was possible that he'd never been in the room, there were many in the castle and this one was tucked right in the corner, rather hidden unless you knew where you were going and that would make it perfect for plotting. A slow smile stretched its way lazily across Katsuki's face.

"Ok," Mina moved to the cupboard and began to root around inside for the box of chalk. It was buried under a pile of clutter that had built up over the yeas and Mina almost missed it. She then rushed up to the black board and began speedily scribbling.

HOW TO GET KATSUKI HIS MAN

"Now what I'm thinking is we've gotta make you approachable." Mina mused.

"You saying I'm not approachable!?" Katsuki exclaimed.

"Sure you are, 'bout as approachable as a cactus with a chainsaw." Mina began writing.

Step 1 : Complements

"Then we've gotta get him to notice you, romantically." This made Katsuki flush bright red. Mina sniggered, causing Katsuki to huff and turn away.

"Oh-Oh yeah, and how do we do that," he stuttered.

Ashido looked thoughtful.

"Hmm, I can see that being a bit of a problem, usually I'd say change your clothes a bit maybe show off some skin but in your case, there isn't really much left to show." She mused, gesturing to Katsuki's bear chest. Suddenly Katsuki looked rather bashful. He'd never really been embarrassed about the way he dressed, he found shirts to be restricting and so the easiest course of action was just to wear his cloak instead, but now that it was being pointed out he suddenly felt rather exposed. Mina noticed and quickly moved to reassure him.

"No no, there's nothing wrong with it, it's just that Prince Midoriya has been exposed to it already so you probably don't have too much affect on him. What we need to do is surprise him, since he's used to all this," she gestured to his chest once again ", we need to do the exact opposite." She turned back to the blackboard.

Step 2 : Clothes - as many as possible

"Ok, now most of this is more of a long term plan and we've gotta give it time to work. After that we're gonna hit him with the finishing blow," Mina began to grin evilly. "I've got an idea, and I tell you if that doesn't get him interested then nothing will."

"Ok so what is it? Spit it out for God's sake." Katsuki spat impatiently.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, I'll get it all sorted. You just concentrate on the general seduction." Mina smirked, spinning Katsuki around and beginning to push him out of the room.

Katsuki began to growl and Ashido took this opportunity to slam the door behind him, ignoring the banging on the door as Katsuki tried to barge his way back in.


	17. Chapter 17

After being kicked out of Mina's study, it was safe to say that it took an unreasonable amount of time for Katsuki to find his way back to his room. He couldn't remember half of the twists and turns that Mina had taken to find her way there and suddenly all of the halls had looked identical.

When he finally found his way back to his quarters, with the help of several soul-bound who were all sworn to secrecy, he couldn't help but mull over Mina's words.

Clothes. That should be the easiest thing to look into. Bakugou strode across the room towards his closet. As soon as he opened the doors he had to cringe to himself, Mina was right he really doesn't have any variation in clothes. Shelves of the exact same colour of trousers and at least five capes with only a slight variation of red between them. Katsuki groaned, it looked like this clothes thing could be more difficult than he thought.

—

Several hours later, as the sun began to set, Katsuki could be seen storming around the castle in search of Kirishima. He'd spent the better part of the afternoon sifting through the clothes at the very back of his closet in a desperate search for something of use. In the end he only managed to find a single beige shirt and even that was about two sizes too small and so he had set out on a quest to find Kirishima in the hope that he might have some sort of shirt in his possession.

"Shitty hair!" He yelled down the corridors at the top of his voice, startling some of the soul-bound still killing around, trying to tie up their duties towards the end of the day.

"Are you even still fucking here?!" He yelled again, gradually growing more exasperated.

Eventually after twenty minutes of searching a soul-bound with yellow hair heard him calling and ran up to meet him.

"Fucking Denki, what do you want?" Katsuki asked, grumbling.

"You're looking for Eijibro right." Kaminari stated, noticing Katsuki's confused expression and elaborating. "Kirishima I mean."

"I fucking knew that," Katsuki snarled, even though he hadn't in fact known that. "Where is he?"

"Uh..."

"Do you even fucking know?!"

"Yeah I definetely do. He was in...his room, I think." Kaminari supplied.

"Ugh, you're no use." Katsuki brushed past Denki, completely shutting out his presence and storming towards the room that Kirishima used when he stayed over.

Mere minutes later he burst through the door to Kirishima's room with Denki trailing behind him, startling it's inhabitant.

"What the hell bro?" Kirishima exclaimed, confused at Katsuki's sudden appearance.

"Do you have any shirts?" Katsuki asked, already moving to rummage through Eijirou's draws.

"Shirts?" both Kirishima and Kaminari questioned simultaneously.

"Yes fucking shirts!" Katsuki paused his search to affirm before continuing to dig.

"Sure I've got loads." Kirishima wandered forwards to open a draw in the corner of the room. He dragged it open and from it pulled an armful of the most brightly coloured shirts Bakugou had ever seen in his life, and frankly he thought that they looked ghastly. Katsuki grimaced.

"Is that it? Don't you have anything that doesn't burn my retinas?" He asked, frowning at the pile of neon cloth in Kirishima's arms.

"Oi," Eijirou exclaimed indignantly, dropping the clothes back into the draw. "I'm not sure, the only clothes I've got without colour are from a few years ago so they probably won't fit you."

Katsuki groaned, frustrated by both Kirishima's lack of any basic clothes and Kaminari's obnoxious fidgeting as he watched on from the doorway.

"It'll have to do."

Kirishima moved to a small basket in the far corner of his room and began to pull clothes out of it in big piles and drop them onto the floor. Katsuki left the clothes he's been sifting through and jogged over to Kirishima. Most of the clothes now strewn across the floor were simply a smaller variation of the same coloured monstrosities that Katsuki had already discarded. However, mixed in with the bunch were several with more muted colourings including a select few in various shades of brown. Katsuki fished these out easily, making his own pile out of any he deemed acceptable.

After Bakugou's ruthless selection, only three pale brown tee-shirts and one dark red tank top were left. He gathered the clothes up in his arms and moved them onto Kirishima's bed, shucking off his cloak.

"Aren't you even gonna tell us what you need them for?" Kirishima asked.

"Uh...important King business." Katsuki brushed his question off, picking up the first of the three brown shirts and beginning to pull it over his head.

As he forced his arms through the sleeves, he was suddenly reminded of why he hated wearing things on his top half, it was so damn restricting. Even before he'd pulled the top over his abdomen, it had thoroughly messed up his hair and was already attempting to cut off the circulation to his arms.

"Yeah, I don't think that fits." Denki snickered.

"Oh yeah, well you can go to hell." Katsuki exclaimed but even as he said it, the sound of ripping filled the air as the stitches holding the top together finally gave in. The tee-shirt collapsed around Katsuki into a pile of rags on the floor.

Kirishima joined Denki's snicker with a chuckle of his own.

Katsuki growled and instead grabbed a second brown shirt. This time the shirt barely got over his head before the sound of tearing seems reached the trio's ears. The third went even quicker.

Kaminari and Kirishima couldn't contain their laughter this time and in response Katsuki leapt forwards, grabbing Denki by the front of his own shirt.

"Please don't hurt me oh great and powerful shirt destroyer." Kaminari wheezed between laughs. After a few seconds he took a deep calming breath and let go of the front of Denki's shirt, allowing him to fall to the floor. He went back to the bed, picking up the final top, a deep burgundy tank top that looked as though it might just about be loose fitting enough to accommodate him, and sliding into it. Sure enough, unlike its fallen predecessors, this top fit rather comfortably around his form with just enough give to ensure comfortable movement.

"Hey, that actually kind of suits you bro," Kirishima exclaimed.

"Hah?! No need to sound so surprised dimwit." Katsuki cried, positioning his hands threateningly.

"I'm not surprised...well ok I am."

"Agh, who cares what you fuck-munches think. Since it's the only acceptable one left out of all of your weak-ass clothes, it'll have to do."

"Once again, are you going to tell us why you need the clothes?"

"Nope."


	18. Chapter 18

After the relative abject failure of Katsuki's raid of Kirishima's closet, he eventually relented and sent Denki with a few other soulbound in the hope that they could find a few more semi-decent shirts for him to wear.

Over the following week, much to the confusion of Midoriya, Katsuki began to shed his cloak more often than not, opting to show off a selection of his new shirts. It didn't take long before Katsuki began to adjust to covering his torso but he still tended to prefer to go shirtless while working out.

In fact, the castle's work out room was were Izuku next ran into him.

Katsuki had been up since early on in the morning and had already worked up a sweat by the time that Midoriya sauntered in. From the look of surprise on Izuku's face he clearly hadn't been expecting to find Katsuki there and the slight crimson flush rising in his cheeks seemed to suggest that maybe, just maybe, Mina's plan was working. Katsuki grinned.

"Something wrong nerd?" He asked with a smirk, unconsciously flexing his muscles slightly more than necessary while completing a push-up.

"N-no, I just wasn't expecting to find anyone here that's all." Izuku looked sheepish and awkward as he dropped his bag on a bench and started to stretch out his muscles.

"Well I'm here everyday."

They fell into a semi-uncomfortable silence and every thirty seconds, Katsuki felt Izuku's gaze flicker across his body and he had to fight the proud smile tugging at his lips. Mina was fucking right.

"See something you like?" He asked, unable to keep the smug tone out of his voice.

This time Izuku's face lit up and his head snapped away from Katsuki so fast that he worried that his neck may break.

"No-nope nothing, no one, not me, no sir. I mean like is pretty subjective right, what are we classing as like? Not dislike, vague admiration, satisfactory feelings of happiness..." Izuku's speech quickly dissolved into nonsensical muttering and Katsuki's smile only stretched wider.

"Well, I'm done here." Katsuki stated, pulling Izuku out of his musings.

"Whaa!?"

"I'm off." Katsuki bundled up his things and stuffed them into his bag, throwing it over his shoulder and leaving the room still grinning. He hardly made it out before he had to punch the air in celebration.

Katsuki would have denied it had you asked him but he was definetely getting close to skipping out of joy as he travelled down the corridors. After the third corner, he ran into Mina and he grabbed her under her armpits, picked her up and spun her around and around and around.

"Whaaaaaaaat aaaaaaaaare yooouuuu doooooiiiiing?" Mina tried to ask as she flew through the air.

"You're a fucking genius." Katsuki exclaimed, setting Mina down onto the floor. "Remind me to give you a raise."

"Uh, you don't pay me."

Katsuki faltered for a second.

"Oh, course...my point still stands."

"What happened?" Mina asks, scanning Katsuki's form for clues and noticing his bare chest. "Oh, I see." She said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and watching on as Katsuki's joy switched to happy embarrassment.

"We haven't done anything! Get your mind out of the gutter!" Katsuki screeched, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. "However...it might be a good time to tell me about whatever plan you're cooking up."

"Nope."

"Oi, I'm telling you to tell me. I've gotta know so I can prepare."

"It's a surprise and it'll work better if it stays that way. Is the plan going well?" Mina questioned.

"I'll just say I think I've got his attention." Katsuki smirked smugly.

"In that case, I think we can move the plan on. It should take me about three days to organise the finer details so be prepared ok."

"Ok." Katsuki agreed, just as they reached the entrance of his room. He turned into his room, holding up his hand in a simple goodbye. "I'll be ready."

—

Three days later, Mina finally delivered the promised surprise.

After a day spent in and around his room, Katsuki had settled down for a mid afternoon nap when someone suddenly came up behind him and wrapped a blindfold around his head, effectively obscuring his vision. Bakugou struggled and fought against his supposed captors, preparing to fire of a barrage of explosions into their faces, and only Mina's hushed reassurances and shushing prevented them suffering serious bodily harm.

"Shhhh, It's just me, well me and Denks."

"Hey." Well that's one idiot.

"Eiji."

"Hey bro." He must be holding me down.

"Sero."

"Sup." Oh look another idiot.

"And Jiro."

"I'm just here for shits and giggles." And there goes any hope of one of them being reasonable.

"What the hell is this?" Katsuki growled in a threatening tone that suggested that if they didn't explain themselves quick sharp, it wouldn't matter what they'd planned because they'd all be experiencing what it feels like to fly...straight out of the window.

"It's time." Mina stated and they all watched on as Katsuki tensed under Kirishima's hold.

"Well why am I fucking blindfolded then?"

"I told you this was all a surprise and what kind of surprise would it be if you could see it?" Mina explained.

"Get on with it then." Katsuki exclaimed impatiently, wriggling.

"Ok," Mina turned her attention to Kirishima. "You can let go of him now. Jiro you take Sero and Denki to Midoriya's room as planned and I'll see y'all later." Katsuki could her the sound of three sets of footsteps leaving the room and an unexplained rustling.

The weight on Katsuki's chest disappeared and he was soon being pulled in every direction. Clothes were pulled off and forced onto him in layers and he felt a brush attack his hair in vain. The shirt covering his shirt felt soft and ruffles tickled his chin, it was almost comfortable for a second until Mina went about pulling strings taut and tightening the shirt against his skin. A long velvety coat with a silken lining was shimmied over his shoulders and suddenly all activity halted.

"Ok, I'm done." Mina proclaimed and Katsuki was spun around and lead forwards, out of the room to a mystery location.


End file.
